Vowed (The Vampire Journals, #7) - Morgan Rice Page 0,18

broke brisk and cold, and Caitlin woke up excited. Aiden had told her that the wedding preparations would begin immediately, on this day. She had woken Caleb when she’d returned and told him she’d be thrilled to marry him right away, and he’d been ecstatic. She’d slept the whole night in his arms, eager for dawn to break so that the preparations could begin.

Aiden had told her that the traditional vampire wedding was preceded by a day of tournaments, of jousting and sparring to test each other’s skills. She was so curious to learn more about all the vampire rituals surrounding a wedding, and excited to begin the first step towards actually getting married. It still felt surreal to her.

As Caitlin walked out the castle, dressed in her sparring gear, she held Caleb’s hand as they crossed the expansive castle grounds in the cold October morning, Scarlet and Ruth right behind them. In the distance, Caitlin could see the entire coven was already out and waiting—dozens of Aiden’s vampires, mixed with dozens of McCleod’s human warriors. Standing among them were also Sam and Polly, beaming as they watched them approach. There must have been a hundred warriors in total, forming a large rectangle on the tournament field, all dressed in full battle gear, standing quietly, waiting.

Clearly, Caitlin and Caleb were the guests of honor today. Two warriors sounded a trumpet at their arrival, and the crowd parted ways as they walked through, and were prompted into the center of the open field. As Caitlin and Caleb stood there, Aiden slowly stepped forward and faced them.

The crowd remained silent in the early morning, the only noise the slight rustling of the wind, and the flapping of banners.

“No vampire wedding may begin without a full day of tournaments. It is an ancient ritual. The tournaments are our way of keeping in mind that a vampire union is a union based on blood.

Husband and wife are also a warrior team. Which is why we begin our day with you two fighting together. You will fight as a team, back to back. Against you will be pitted our best warriors.

Together, you must protect each other, and fight your way through.” Aiden stepped back out of the circle, and slowly nodded to his men.

Caitlin stood in the center of the circle, back to back with Caleb, and felt a nervous rush as they were each suddenly thrown weapons. She caught hers in midair: wooden swords. She was relieved that they wouldn’t be using live, deadly weapons; she wasn’t worried about her own fighting skills, or Caleb’s, but she was worried about hurting someone else.

There was little time to think. Within moments, they were charged by a dozen vampire and human warriors, coming at them from every direction. They, too, wielded wooden weapons—

spears, swords, shields, lances, and other weapons she couldn’t recognize at first. She felt Caleb’s back flush up against hers, felt his muscles tense up, and felt reassured to have him at her side.

Within moments, the first attackers were in her face, swinging, slashing.

Caitlin’s instincts took over. Her vampire speed and reflexes, all her years of training with Aiden, took. She found herself parrying and slashing back, kicking and dodging and rolling. As three vampires charged and brought down their swords at the same time in a well-coordinated attack, she spun and slashed all three swords away as she came back around, and kicked one hard with a spinning roundhouse kick, knocking him hard into the other warriors—who all landed on top of each other.

Caitlin looked up to see another warrior—this one a human—charging her with a large, wooden battle ax. He brought it down with two hands, aiming straight for her head, and she could tell that if he’d hit, the blow would really hurt. She was surprised at these human warriors’ speed; if she hadn’t been looking, he would have caught her.

But Caitlin’s reflexes again kicked in, and she dodged out of the way at the last second, the wood whistling by her ear. As the warrior rushed past her, she leaned back and kicked him hard in the ribs, sending him to the ground.

Caitlin turned just in time to see a long wooden chain and mace being swung right for her chest.

She jumped back, and it missed by a hair, as it grazed the tip of her clothing. She imagined what that mace would have done to her—even though it was wood. The warrior swung again, and this time, she could